Chairs are often configured to have a back support that can be reclined. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,328,943, 4,380,352, 4,533,177, 5,154,438, 5,601,337, 5,683,139, 5,909,923, 5,944,382, 6,386,634, 6,669,292, 6,767,066, 6,817,667, 6,869,142, 6,910,736, 6,913,315, and 7,273,253, U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. US 2007/0000111, 2005/0093354, 2005/0052061 and 2004/0189073 and World Intellectual Property Publication No. WO 2008/041868 disclose chairs that include such a back support.
Recently, chairs have been designed to be made of recycled materials or materials capable of being recycled, such as frame structures composed of plastic. For instance, a back frame or seat frame may be composed of plastic and attached to a base composed of plastic or metal. It is often desirable to have a reclinable back in such chairs. The reclinable back often includes a back frame that is attached to a seat or base that can pivot along one or more pivot points defined in the base or seat frame.
Often, fabricators and designers of office chairs and other chairs reject designs that utilize a reclinable back frame construction that does not incorporate multiple pivot points or multiple moveable rigid linkages. Such reclinable back frames may require one or more components to deform to permit the back frame to recline. However, such deforming components can provide uneven support to a user such that the back may bend or twist upon recline. Such bending and twisting of the back can reduce the effective life of the chair and also provide an uncomfortable ride to a user. Moreover, such deformable components may provide a “hard stop” upon reclining such that the ride of the chair during recline is not smooth. Many users find such “hard stops” uncomfortable or undesirable. At least because of the aforementioned problems, back designs that do not utilize pivots defined in a base or seat frame to recline a chair back are often not even conceived, let alone considered.
A support member is needed for utilization in chair designs that help support a chair back during recline of the chair back while also providing the stability necessary to evenly support a user reclining such a chair back. Preferably, such a support is configured so that the support member improves the ride of the chair back during recline of the chair back without detracting from the aesthetic effect of the chair.